Chapter 113

• Lira's Pov
• The night was unnaturally still, the kind of quiet that made your skin prickle and your senses sharpen. The forest canopy above me was thick, swallowing most of the moonlight, leaving only slivers of silver cutting through the branches. I crouched low in the undergrowth, every breath shallow, my heart pounding like war drums in my chest. The enemy’s stronghold wasn’t far now, I could feel it in my bones, smell the faint scent of smoke from their torches drifting through the breeze.
• I wasn’t supposed to be here.